Consuming shakes, fat burners and superfoods to detox and lose weight is an increasingly common trend on social media and the internet. Following these strict eating plans without consulting a specialist can put your health at risk.

Social media has become the showcase for hundreds of people who, due to their number of followers, are considered influencers. Content on health and nutrition is recurrent, especially those on detox diets that promise miraculous results in a short time and with minimal effort.

Just type the phrase “detox diet” into Google and you will find more than eleven million results from entertainment, current affairs and sports sites. What do all these contents have in common? They do not necessarily have medical backing.
For this reason, if you follow these types of influencers on social media, you should take their recommendations with good judgment, since it is a fact that a significant part of the products and services they talk about are commercial and, at times, misleading content.

Also, you should understand that not everything they show you on their profiles is real. This will prevent you from comparing yourself and getting frustrated for not looking like them. Although their healthy lifestyle can be an inspiration, never see it as a replicable model simply because it was not created for you.

Harmful “help”

Believing that the human body works like an electronic device, which simply needs to be restarted to return to a desired state, is a fantasy promised by detox diets advertised on social media and the Internet.

Although there are different ways to carry them out, most restrict the consumption of solid foods. The usual portions and presentations are replaced by soups and juices prepared with fruits and vegetables, leaving out meat, dairy products, eggs and fish. These plans are usually carried out for three, five or more days.

Many influencers promote these diets to compensate for the damage caused after having had an excess of calories or toxic products (tobacco or alcohol) or to eliminate the presence of a medication in the body.

However, they do not take into account that when our body is healthy it is able to naturally eliminate toxins and foreign substances through organs such as the liver, kidney and intestine, which are also responsible for improving the performance of other functions of the body:

• The kidneys eliminate toxins through urine.
• The liver's metabolism breaks down toxic elements.
• Feces are the intestine's way of expelling foreign substances.
• Sweating and breathing are other ways the body expels toxic substances, such as alcohol.

Customised for you

Diet plans are not a formula that can be replicated on a mass scale. The portions and types of foods you should consume and restrict should take into account your particularities, including your age, your medical history, and the goals you set for improving your lifestyle.

The same is true for detoxification needs: these are individual, as not all people need to cleanse their body. When there is poisoning in some organ, only a health professional can guide the patient through the cleansing process.

Therefore, if you want to change your body composition, the recommendation is that you adopt a healthy lifestyle, in which, guided by a nutritionist or dietician, you gradually eliminate toxic elements such as chemicals, sweeteners, gluten, sugar, frozen foods and sausages. Only in this way will you cleanse your body and obtain favorable results, without sacrificing your health.

Possible complications of detox diets

Not all organisms are prepared to follow this type of diet due to the deficiency of calories and essential nutrients that characterize it. Some people may present symptoms such as:

• Headache.
• Diarrhea.
• Threw up.
• Burning in the stomach.
• Increased anxiety about eating.
• Fatigue.
• Lack of energy.
• Apathy.